JP4184556B2 - Parking assistance device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a parking assistance device for assisting a driver's parking operation when a vehicle such as an automobile or a truck is parked in a parking facility such as a garage.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as this type of parking assist device, for example, a device disclosed in JP-A-9-11793 is known. In this device, a first camera is disposed at the rear of the vehicle to display an image of the rear of the vehicle on a display device in the vehicle, while a second camera is provided on the parking lot side so that the ground including the parking position is displayed. I photographed it and made it possible to display this image on the display inside the car. According to this, since the relationship between the obstacles around the vehicle and the vehicle can be confirmed on the display screen, even a driver who is unfamiliar with the garage can safely perform the parking operation.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described prior art, since the relationship between the obstacles around the vehicle and the vehicle can be confirmed on the display screen, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from colliding with the wall surface of the garage, but the vehicle is parked in a predetermined manner. Steering operation such as turning back is still necessary to guide to the position, and although this device is useful for novice drivers to prevent accidents, it did not make parking operation easy .
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a parking assist device that allows a beginner driver to easily enter a garage.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In general, when parking in a garage or parallel parking, as taught at the driving school, first guide the vehicle so that the mark such as a specific pole can be seen from the vehicle at a specific position, then move backward while operating the steering wheel. However, it can be said that even beginners can easily enter the garage. In other words, it is important to always keep the position of the vehicle immediately before the start of garage entry, so that the subsequent garage entry operation can be made the same every time. In addition, once entering the garage, it is necessary to repeat turning back and forth in order to correctly align the parking position, which makes it difficult for beginners, but if it is on a wide road before entering the garage, it will be a landmark It is relatively easy to guide the vehicle together.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such a viewpoint, and the parking assist device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a photographing camera arranged to photograph the vehicle in a parking facility for parking the vehicle. In the parking assistance device, comprising: a transmission means for transmitting a photographed image taken by the photographing camera to the vehicle; and a display means provided in the vehicle for displaying the transmitted photographed image. A guidance display indicating the reverse start position is superimposed on the photographed image and displayed on the display means.
[0007]
In the apparatus according to the first aspect, instead of using the pole or the like as a mark, a guidance display indicating the reverse start position is displayed on the display means. By guiding the vehicle so that the guidance display and the vehicle image are exactly overlapped, the garage can always be started from a certain position.
[0008]
According to the apparatus of the first aspect, since the vehicle is guided so that the image of the vehicle photographed by the photographing camera exactly overlaps the predetermined guidance display, the garage can be started from a certain position at any time. The subsequent garage entry operation should be the same every time, and even a novice driver can easily enter the garage.
[0009]
Further, the device according to claim 2 is the parking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the reverse start position is such that the vehicle is temporarily stopped at the reverse start position and the steering is suspended to the left or right. The vehicle is placed at a position near the predetermined parking position by moving backward while holding the steering wheel.
[0010]
The apparatus according to claim 2 is applicable to a parallel parking type parking facility in that a parking facility that is parked at right angles to a road or a passage is assumed. Is different. That is, in such a parking facility, after temporarily stopping at a predetermined position in the vicinity of the entrance of the garage, turning the steering wheel fully and then moving backward makes it possible to easily enter the car without hitting the side wall of the garage.
[0011]
According to the apparatus of claim 2, in particular in a parking facility where a parking position is provided at right angles to a road or a passage, the vehicle image captured by the imaging camera is exactly overlapped with a predetermined guidance display. After guiding the vehicle, it is possible to enter the vicinity of the predetermined parking position simply by turning off the steering wheel and moving backward while holding the steering wheel.
[0012]
The parking assist device according to the second aspect is particularly useful in a garage having a relatively small depth, but some garages have a deep depth such as a so-called eel bed. An important thing to consider when entering such a garage is that if the steering wheel is kept stationary for a long time, the vehicle may hit the side wall of the garage. Therefore, if it is possible to tell the driver when to return the steering to the neutral position, further improvement in convenience can be expected.
[0013]
From this point of view, the parking assist device according to claim 3 is the parking assist device according to claim 2, wherein the display means has a neutral return to return the steering wheel that has been left or right to the neutral position to the neutral position. A guidance display indicating a position is displayed so as to be superimposed on the captured image.
[0014]
In the parking assist device according to claim 3, the display means displays a guidance display indicating the neutral return position where the steering wheel which has been left and right fully turned back to the neutral position is superimposed on the captured image. The driver can be notified of when to return the steering to the neutral position. The driver who is informed of when to return the steering to the neutral position simply stops the vehicle at that location, returns the steering to the neutral position, and then moves backward while maintaining the steering in the neutral position. The vehicle can be stored near the parking position. It should be noted that since the positional relationship between the reverse start position and the neutral return position is clear at first glance, it is considered that there is no possibility of causing confusion between the two positions on the display device. Applications that facilitate further identification, such as adopting different colors for display, can also be adopted progressively.
[0015]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the parking assist device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the guidance display display position indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position on the screen of the display means. Can be registered.
[0016]
In the apparatus of claims 1 to 3, it is necessary to determine in advance where the guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position is displayed on the screen of the display means. In claim 4, as a simple method for that purpose, the user can manually register the position of the guidance display.
[0017]
In the apparatus according to the fourth aspect, for example, the display position of the guidance display is registered as follows. First, the vehicle is correctly parked once at a predetermined position in the parking facility. Then, when the steering wheel is turned all the way to the right and advanced to the outside of the garage, this position becomes the reverse start position. In other words, when entering the garage, conversely, if the vehicle is stopped at this place and then the steering wheel is turned all the way to the right and moved backward, the garage can be placed in the correct parking position. Therefore, the display position of the guidance display is registered so as to overlap the position of the vehicle photographed by the photographing camera and displayed on the display means with the vehicle stopped at this location. Specifically, the cursor on the screen may be moved to register guide display marks at the four corners of the vehicle. Similarly, the display position of the guidance display indicating the neutral return position is registered.
[0018]
According to the apparatus described in claim 4, since the user manually registers the position of the guidance display, it is possible to easily set the position of the guidance display that suits the individual user's preference. This configuration is also simple and low cost.
[0019]
The device according to claim 5 is the parking assist device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position is obtained by inputting an information parameter about the vehicle. The display position of the guide display shown is automatically determined.
[0020]
In claim 4, the user manually registers the position of the guidance display. However, in the apparatus according to claim 5, the display position of the guidance display is automatically determined and displayed. Just as every trainee at a driving school learns the same landmark, any skilled driver will stop at almost the same position before starting garage, and if the vehicle is the same, the reverse start position and / or The neutral return position can be said to be relatively stable.
[0021]
Therefore, in the apparatus according to the fifth aspect, by inputting an information parameter for specifying the type and size of the vehicle, the display position of the guidance display suitable for the vehicle is determined. For this purpose, it is possible to select from display positions registered in advance in a table expression according to the content of the parameter, or to determine the display position according to the result of the mathematical expression including the parameter.
[0022]
According to the apparatus of the fifth aspect, when the information parameter about the vehicle is input, the display position of the guidance display is automatically determined accordingly, so that the user does not need to perform a complicated operation and is optimal. An indication of the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position can be obtained.
[0023]
In the apparatus according to claim 5, the type of information parameter to be input is not limited. However, as described in claim 6, the parameters include the total length, width, and minimum turning radius of the vehicle. Or, as described in claim 7, the information can be used to specify whether the vehicle is a three-numbered large vehicle, a 2000cc class medium-sized vehicle, a 1600cc class small vehicle, or a light vehicle. . Given the size of the vehicle body and the minimum turning radius, the preferred reverse start position and / or neutral return position is roughly determined. Further, since the minimum turning radius can be predicted to some extent if the size of the vehicle body is known, a preferable reverse start position and / or neutral return position can be determined temporarily.
[0024]
In addition, in the apparatus according to claims 5 to 7, the user can finely adjust the display position according to his / her preference after the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position are automatically determined. .
[0025]
On the other hand, the parking assist device according to claim 8 is the parking assist device according to any one of claims 3 to 4, further comprising an outer shape detecting means for detecting an outer shape or a size of the vehicle. Accordingly, the display position of the guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position is automatically determined.
[0026]
According to the apparatus of the eighth aspect, although an outer shape detecting unit for detecting the outer shape or size of the vehicle is required, the user does not need to input information parameters about the vehicle. In addition, the outer shape detection means can be configured as image processing software that determines the size of the image based on the photographed vehicle image, so that the apparatus cost does not increase.
[0027]
The device according to claim 9 is the parking assist device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the parking facility is provided with vehicle detection means for detecting that the vehicle is approaching. It is characterized by that.
[0028]
According to the apparatus of the ninth aspect, by including the vehicle detection means, it is possible to achieve automation such as starting the apparatus when the vehicle approaches. In particular, according to the combination of claim 9 and claim 8, when the vehicle approaches, the size of the vehicle is automatically detected, and the backward start position and / or the display means is immediately detected according to the result. A guidance display indicating the neutral return position can also be displayed.
[0029]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a parking assistance device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0030]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the parking assist device. In the figure, a garage 1 is a parking facility for parking a vehicle 11 and is attached to a general private house. A photographing camera 3 is attached near the entrance of the garage 1 so that the vehicle 11 temporarily stopped near the entrance of the garage 1 can be photographed. In the vicinity of the entrance of the garage 1, vehicle detection means 5 including an ultrasonic distance sensor or the like is disposed, and detects that the vehicle 11 has approached the vicinity of the entrance of the garage 1. In addition, a parking facility side communication device 7 is disposed on the back wall of the garage 1, and an image photographed by the photographing camera 3 is transmitted in a predetermined radio wave format. A parking facility control device 9 which is a home server computer is installed in the house, and performs the overall control operation of each element described above.
[0031]
The vehicle 11 is provided with a vehicle-side communication device 13 having a function of receiving captured image data transmitted from the parking facility-side communication device 9. And the picked-up image which the vehicle side communication apparatus 13 received is normally displayed on the display apparatus 15 used as a monitor screen of a car navigation system. The transmission of the vehicle 11 is provided with shift position detection means 17 for detecting the shift position. The vehicle 11 is provided with a vehicle-side control device 19 that controls the vehicle-side communication device 13 and the display device 15.
[0032]
Next, operation | movement of the parking assistance apparatus of this embodiment which consists of the said structure is demonstrated.
[0033]
It is assumed that the garage 1 is in an empty state where no vehicle is present. At this time, the parking facility side control device 9 constantly monitors the input from the vehicle detection means 5 and waits for the vehicle 11 to come.
[0034]
When the vehicle 11 approaches the entrance of the garage 1, this is detected by the vehicle detection means 5, and the parking facility side control device 9 controls the parking facility side communication device 7 to call the vehicle side communication device 13. The vehicle-side communication device 13 notifies the vehicle-side control device 19 that there has been a call, and returns a response signal based on a command from the control device 19, thereby establishing a signal transmission route between the vehicle side and the parking facility side. To do.
[0035]
The parking facility side control device 9 recognizes the vehicle 11 from the image captured from the photographing camera 3 by the image recognition software, and determines its total length and width. Then, the coordinate value of the reverse start position stored in the table type so as to correspond to this result is read from the memory, and the guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position as shown in FIG. 2 at the coordinate position. Is processed so that the image is superimposed. The parking facility-side control device 9 captures the captured image of the photographing camera 3 every moment, superimposes the above-described guidance display, and sends the image via the parking facility-side communication device 7.
[0036]
The driver guides the vehicle 11 to a predetermined reverse start position while referring to an image as shown in FIG. 2 displayed on the display device 15 on the console of the vehicle 11. When the guidance display and the image of the vehicle are exactly overlapped, the vehicle stops temporarily, and the steering is suspended until it reaches the left or right, and the vehicle moves backward while holding the steering. Thereby, the vehicle 11 is stored near a predetermined parking position, that is, near the neutral return position. In addition, since the image on the display device 15 is sequentially updated even while the vehicle is moving backward, the driver during the parking operation can correctly grasp the positional relationship between the vehicle and the surrounding wall, and the vehicle 11 is placed on the wall surface of the garage. There is no contact.
[0037]
When the vehicle moves backward to the neutral return position and the guidance display and the vehicle image are exactly overlapped, the vehicle is temporarily stopped there to return the steering to the neutral position, and then the vehicle is moved backward while maintaining the steering in the neutral position. It should be noted that since the positional relationship between the reverse start position and the neutral return position is clear at first glance, it is considered that there is no possibility of causing confusion between the two on the display device 15. Applications that further facilitate identification, such as adopting different colors for position display, can also be adopted progressively.
[0038]
When the warehousing is completed and the driver shifts the transmission to the P (parking) position, this is detected by the shift position detecting means 17, and the vehicle side control device 19 completes the warehousing via the vehicle side communication device 13. The parking facility side control device 9 is notified. And the control apparatus 9 which received this stops operation | movement of the whole apparatus.
[0039]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, after the vehicle 11 is guided so that the image of the vehicle photographed by the photographing camera 3 is exactly overlapped with the predetermined guidance display, the steering is stopped and the vehicle moves backward while holding the steering. This makes it easy for beginner drivers to enter the correct parking position. In addition, since the timing for returning the steering to the neutral position can be accurately transmitted to the driver, it is possible to avoid a situation in which garage entry fails.
[0040]
The embodiment described above is described as an example in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not described in order to limit the technical scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to include all embodiments belonging to the technical scope, and includes any equivalents thereof.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the parking assistance device of the present invention, even a beginner driver can easily enter a garage.
[0042]
In particular, according to the apparatus of the first aspect, the garage can be started from a certain position at any time by guiding the vehicle so that the image of the vehicle photographed by the photographing camera exactly overlaps the predetermined guidance display. Therefore, the garage operation after that can be done in the same way every time, and even a beginner driver can easily enter the garage.
[0043]
According to the apparatus of claim 2, in particular in a parking facility where a parking position is provided at right angles to a road or a passage, the vehicle image captured by the imaging camera is exactly overlapped with a predetermined guidance display. After guiding the vehicle, it is possible to enter the vicinity of the predetermined parking position simply by turning off the steering wheel and moving backward while holding the steering wheel.
[0044]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the driver who is informed of the timing for returning the steering to the neutral position temporarily stops the vehicle at that position, returns the steering to the neutral position, and then maintains the steering in the neutral position. The vehicle can be easily stored in the vicinity of the predetermined parking position simply by moving backward.
[0045]
According to the apparatus described in claim 4, since the user manually registers the position of the guidance display, it is possible to easily set the position of the guidance display that suits the individual user's preference. This configuration is also simple and low cost.
[0046]
According to the apparatus of claims 5 to 7, if the information parameter about the vehicle is input, the display position of the guidance display is automatically determined accordingly, so that the user does not need to perform complicated operations. An indication of the optimal reverse start position and / or neutral return position can be obtained.
[0047]
According to the apparatus of the eighth aspect, although an outer shape detecting unit for detecting the outer shape or size of the vehicle is required, the user does not need to input information parameters about the vehicle. In addition, the outer shape detection means can be configured as image processing software that determines the size of the image based on the photographed vehicle image, so that the apparatus cost does not increase.
[0048]
According to the apparatus of the ninth aspect, by including the vehicle detection means, it is possible to achieve automation such as starting the apparatus when the vehicle approaches. In particular, according to the combination of claim 8 and claim 7, when the vehicle approaches, the size of the vehicle is automatically detected, and immediately according to the result, the display means immediately starts the reverse start position and / or neutral. There is an extremely excellent effect that a guidance display indicating the return position can be displayed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a parking assistance device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display of the parking assistance device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Garage 3 Shooting camera 5 Vehicle detection means 7 Parking facility side communication apparatus 9 Parking facility side control apparatus 11 Vehicle 13 Vehicle side communication apparatus 15 Display apparatus 17 Shift position detection means 19 Vehicle side control apparatus

Claims (9)

A photographing camera arranged so as to photograph the vehicle in a parking facility for parking the vehicle;
Transmission means for transmitting an image captured by the imaging camera to the vehicle;
Display means provided in the vehicle for displaying the transmitted captured image;
In a parking assistance device configured with:
A parking assistance device, characterized in that a guidance display indicating a reverse start position of the vehicle is superimposed on the captured image and displayed on the display means. The parking assistance device according to claim 1,
In the reverse start position, the vehicle is temporarily stopped at the reverse start position, the steering is suspended to the left or right as much as possible, and the vehicle is moved in the vicinity of a predetermined parking position by moving backward while holding the steering. A parking assistance device characterized by being in a position. In the parking assistance device according to claim 2,
The parking assist device according to claim 1, wherein a guidance display indicating a neutral return position at which the steering wheel that has been fixed to the left or right is to be returned to the neutral position is superimposed on the captured image. In the parking auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A parking assist device capable of registering a display position of a guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position on the screen of the display means. In the parking auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A parking assist device, wherein a display position of a guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position is automatically determined by inputting an information parameter about the vehicle. In the parking assistance device according to claim 5,
The parking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the input information parameters include a total length, a width, and a minimum turning radius of the vehicle. In the parking assistance device according to claim 5,
The parking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the information parameter to be input is information for specifying whether the vehicle is a 3 number large vehicle, a 2000cc class medium size vehicle, a 1600cc class small vehicle, or a light vehicle. In the parking auxiliary device according to any one of claims 3 to 4,
An external shape detecting means for detecting the external shape or size of the vehicle is provided, and the display position of the guidance display indicating the reverse start position and / or the neutral return position is automatically determined according to the detection result. Parking assistance device. In the parking auxiliary device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
A parking assistance device, wherein the parking facility is provided with vehicle detection means for detecting that the vehicle is approaching.

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